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Gumloop ships Gumball, background subagents, and a model router in two weeks—each one changes how agents work.
Alternatives · marketing automation tools
Craft CMS alternatives
The best Craft CMS alternatives in marketing automation tools, ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score.
Updated Sep 16, 2026
Looking for the best alternatives to Craft CMS? Sparkpulse tracks and ranks 12 alternatives in marketing automation tools by shipping velocity — how frequently each ships meaningful updates, verified from official changelogs. For reference, Craft CMS shipped 0 meaningful updates in the last 30 days and carries a velocity score of 5.0 out of 10 in 2026. The alternatives below are ranked the same way, so you're comparing real release momentum, not marketing claims.
About Craft CMS
Craft CMS 6.0 is a full Laravel rewrite — alpha releases are shipping breaking API changes every week.
Craft CMS 6.0 is mid-alpha, with a complete architectural shift from Yii to Laravel as its foundation. The alpha cadence has been weekly or better, each release removing legacy event-based APIs and replacing them with modern Laravel patterns — service containers, Artisan commands, Inertia/Vue CP pages. Image handling was overhauled to intervention/image with libvips support and new format coverage (HEIC, JPEG XL). The 5.x line continues receiving security and bug patches in parallel.
Velocity 5.0 · Last update 12d ago
Top 12 alternatives to Craft CMS
Ranked by recent ship velocity. Tap any card for the full editorial breakdown, or pivot to a head-to-head.
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Buttondown gives publishers granular AI-crawler controls as daily fixes continue
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n8n stabilizes AI agent integrations with Anthropic thinking-block fixes across the 2.39-2.40 range
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SalesBlink ships a CLI — cold email outreach now scriptable from the terminal and CI/CD pipelines
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MailerLite ships two-way Shopify sync and an AI agent skill while building out its editor with code blocks and video.
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OpnForm added a full MCP server in v2.4 — AI assistants can now build, preview, and manage forms without touching the UI.
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Joomla 6.2 enters beta with AI language fallback, XOAuth2, and a revamped TinyMCE — three tracks shipping in parallel.
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Formaloo lets you bring your own form UI, and opens a door in from ChatGPT and Claude
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Formidable Forms adds form abandonment analytics and deepens its multilingual and add-on ecosystem.
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Pimcore's 2026.2 branch is in steady bug-fix mode, targeting storage races, workflow correctness, and image processing.
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Moosend's only visible signal is blog content—no public product changelog available
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ActivePieces is fighting a multi-front release instability with simultaneous hotfix trains across three version lines.
Craft CMS vs alternatives — shipping velocity at a glance
Velocity score (0–10) and meaningful releases shipped in the last 30 days, from official changelogs. Higher = shipping faster.
| Product | Velocity | Sparks · 30d | Focus areas | Latest release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craft CMS (baseline) | 5.0 | 0 | cmslaravelphp | — |
| Gumloop | 10.0 | 3 | ai-agentsmodel-routingautonomous-agents | Introducing Gumloop's Model Router |
| Buttondown | 6.3 | 1 | newsletteremail-publishingautomation | Archives gain separate AI-crawler and search-engine access toggles |
| n8n | 6.3 | 0 | ai-agentsmcp-integrationworkflow-automation | — |
| SalesBlink | 6.3 | 1 | sales-automationcold-emailmcp | 💻 Introducing SalesBlink CLI |
| MailerLite | 6.3 | 1 | email-marketingshopify-integrationai-agent-skill | Shopify sync now works both ways |
| OpnForm | 6.3 | 1 | formsmcpai-agents | v2.4.0: MCP, campaign attribution, and richer notifications |
| Joomla | 6.3 | 1 | cmsphpsecurity | Joomla 6.2.0 Beta 1 |
| Formaloo | 6.3 | 1 | form-builderheadless-formsai-authoring | Build any form UI and keep every workflow in Formaloo |
| Formidable Forms | 5.0 | 0 | wordpressform-analyticsabandonment | — |
| Pimcore | 5.0 | 0 | cmsdigital-asset-managementbug-fixes | — |
| Moosend | 5.0 | 0 | email-marketingmarketing-automationcontent-marketing | — |
| Activepieces | 5.0 | 0 | automation-platformworkflow-automationworker-stability | — |
The 12 best Craft CMS alternatives, in depth
1. Gumloop · velocity 10.0
Gumloop ships Gumball, background subagents, and a model router in two weeks—each one changes how agents work.
Over the last 30 days Gumloop shipped 3 meaningful updates vs Craft CMS's 0, most recently “Introducing Gumloop's Model Router”. Its velocity score of 10.0/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Craft CMS leans on cms, laravel and php, Gumloop focuses on ai agents, model routing and autonomous agents.
Over the last 30 days Gumloop has been shipping faster than Craft CMS — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
2. Buttondown · velocity 6.3
Buttondown gives publishers granular AI-crawler controls as daily fixes continue.
Over the last 30 days Buttondown shipped 1 meaningful update vs Craft CMS's 0, most recently “Archives gain separate AI-crawler and search-engine access toggles”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Craft CMS leans on cms, laravel and php, Buttondown focuses on newsletter, email publishing and automation.
Over the last 30 days Buttondown has been shipping faster than Craft CMS — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
Full Buttondown trajectory → · Compare Craft CMS vs Buttondown →
3. n8n · velocity 6.3
N8n stabilizes AI agent integrations with Anthropic thinking-block fixes across the 2.39-2.40 range.
Its velocity score of 6.3/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Craft CMS leans on cms, laravel and php, n8n focuses on ai agents, mcp integration and workflow automation.
n8n and Craft CMS have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
4. SalesBlink · velocity 6.3
SalesBlink ships a CLI — cold email outreach now scriptable from the terminal and CI/CD pipelines.
Over the last 30 days SalesBlink shipped 1 meaningful update vs Craft CMS's 0, most recently “💻 Introducing SalesBlink CLI”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Craft CMS leans on cms, laravel and php, SalesBlink focuses on sales automation, cold email and mcp.
Over the last 30 days SalesBlink has been shipping faster than Craft CMS — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
Full SalesBlink trajectory → · Compare Craft CMS vs SalesBlink →
5. MailerLite · velocity 6.3
MailerLite ships two-way Shopify sync and an AI agent skill while building out its editor with code blocks and video.
Over the last 30 days MailerLite shipped 1 meaningful update vs Craft CMS's 0, most recently “Shopify sync now works both ways”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Craft CMS leans on cms, laravel and php, MailerLite focuses on email marketing, shopify integration and ai agent skill.
Over the last 30 days MailerLite has been shipping faster than Craft CMS — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
Full MailerLite trajectory → · Compare Craft CMS vs MailerLite →
6. OpnForm · velocity 6.3
OpnForm added a full MCP server in v2.4 — AI assistants can now build, preview, and manage forms without touching the UI.
Over the last 30 days OpnForm shipped 1 meaningful update vs Craft CMS's 0, most recently “v2.4.0: MCP, campaign attribution, and richer notifications”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Craft CMS leans on cms, laravel and php, OpnForm focuses on forms, mcp and ai agents.
Over the last 30 days OpnForm has been shipping faster than Craft CMS — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
7. Joomla · velocity 6.3
Joomla 6.2 enters beta with AI language fallback, XOAuth2, and a revamped TinyMCE — three tracks shipping in parallel.
Over the last 30 days Joomla shipped 1 meaningful update vs Craft CMS's 0, most recently “Joomla 6.2.0 Beta 1”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Craft CMS leans on cms, laravel and php, Joomla focuses on cms, php and security.
Over the last 30 days Joomla has been shipping faster than Craft CMS — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
8. Formaloo · velocity 6.3
Formaloo lets you bring your own form UI, and opens a door in from ChatGPT and Claude.
Over the last 30 days Formaloo shipped 1 meaningful update vs Craft CMS's 0, most recently “Build any form UI and keep every workflow in Formaloo”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where Craft CMS leans on cms, laravel and php, Formaloo focuses on form builder, headless forms and ai authoring.
Over the last 30 days Formaloo has been shipping faster than Craft CMS — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
Full Formaloo trajectory → · Compare Craft CMS vs Formaloo →
9. Formidable Forms · velocity 5.0
Formidable Forms adds form abandonment analytics and deepens its multilingual and add-on ecosystem.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Craft CMS leans on cms, laravel and php, Formidable Forms focuses on wordpress, form analytics and abandonment.
Formidable Forms and Craft CMS have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full Formidable Forms trajectory → · Compare Craft CMS vs Formidable Forms →
10. Pimcore · velocity 5.0
Pimcore's 2026.2 branch is in steady bug-fix mode, targeting storage races, workflow correctness, and image processing.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Craft CMS leans on cms, laravel and php, Pimcore focuses on cms, digital asset management and bug fixes.
Pimcore and Craft CMS have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
11. Moosend · velocity 5.0
Moosend's only visible signal is blog content—no public product changelog available.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Craft CMS leans on cms, laravel and php, Moosend focuses on email marketing, marketing automation and content marketing.
Moosend and Craft CMS have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
12. Activepieces · velocity 5.0
ActivePieces is fighting a multi-front release instability with simultaneous hotfix trains across three version lines.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where Craft CMS leans on cms, laravel and php, Activepieces focuses on automation platform, workflow automation and worker stability.
Activepieces and Craft CMS have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full Activepieces trajectory → · Compare Craft CMS vs Activepieces →
Frequently asked questions
What are the best alternatives to Craft CMS?
The top Craft CMS alternatives we currently track in marketing automation tools are Gumloop, Buttondown, n8n, SalesBlink, MailerLite, ranked by recent ship velocity.
How is this list of Craft CMS alternatives ranked?
Alternatives are ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score — release cadence + 30-day spark count + sector-relative ship rate.
Can I compare Craft CMS directly with one of these alternatives?
Yes — every card has a "Compare with Craft CMS" link to a side-by-side /compare page.